The gift of a flavorful, fresh herb garden is a wonderful idea for the hard-to-shop-for people in your life. Kids and adults love tending to herbs, as they don't take up much space or time. Kitchen herb gardens are one of the few homemade gifts that are decorative, functional and fun.

Sound like a great idea? You'll be surprised at how easy these are to put together and how many uses fresh herbs can be put to, from rack spices to use as medicinal herbs. Watch out though, you may end up wanting to plant one for yourself in the process!

Gourmet Kitchen Herbs

What You'll Need: A terra cotta or plastic container that will hold five plants comfortably – preferably a window box shape (long and rectangular), potting soil that is slightly acidic and has water-retaining material mixed in (such as peat moss), and one of each of the following suggested plants: Basil, Chives, Parsley, Savory, Thyme. There are other plants that you may want to consider, but these are among the hardiest and easiest to grow. In addition, they make for wonderful popular rack spices. Just check to make sure that the plants you do get aren’t in the same “family” to avoid cross-pollination.

What to Do: After you have filled the container with soil, plant each of the herb plants approximately four inches apart. You may wish to start this project a month or so before you give it to the recipient, so the plants have a chance to establish and fill in a little.

Additional Information: Check out Container Herb Garden should you want more in-depth information on planting an indoor kitchen herb garden, as well as tips on harvesting and drying herbs and herb health information that you may want to include in a card along with the herb garden gift!

Herb Tea Garden

What You'll Need: A terra cotta or plastic container that will hold five to six plants comfortably – preferably a widow box shape (long, rectangular), potting soil that is very rich in manure content or has compost added and has good drainage (mixing a little sand in the soil helps with this), and one or two of each of the following suggested plants: Lemon Balm, Anise, Peppermint, German Chamomile, Bergamot, Agrimony.

What to Do: After you have filled the container with soil, plant each of the herb plants approximately four inches apart. Also start this project a month or so before you give it to the recipient, so the plants have a chance to establish themselves.

What You'll Need: Since there are several pre-made herbal seed kits, all you need to do is order one, wrap it and gift it – if the recipient is into the adventure of growing plants from seed. Another idea is to start the kit for them and then hand it over, just to make sure the seeds yield hardy plants. If you plan on starting the kit yourself you’ll generally want to begin the process six to eight weeks in advance – but call the supplier or check the packaging to be sure.

Additional Information: Talk about variety of herbal seed kits and plants, these resources have it all – Herb Kits, Emily's Plants, No Thyme.

As I mentioned before, a card with information on continued care, harvesting and herb recipes will complete your gift nicely. Remember, the more effort and fun you put into this gift, the greater the magic. Enjoy!